By DPA
Washington : The launch of the Dawn space probe to study the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter has been postponed until September, said officials from the US space agency NASA.
Poor weather conditions have delayed the launch several times. The frequent delays created problems with the availability of ships and aircraft to track the launch, and eventually the launch window was mostly missed.
The final factor in the postponement decision by officials from NASA's Science Mission Directorate was the potential impediment to launch preparations for the Phoenix Mars lander, scheduled for launch in early August, NASA said late Saturday.
Earlier in the week, the launch was slated for Saturday, then bumped to Sunday and then Monday, before being pushed back to July 15.
A NASA statement said that the September launch would not affect the Dawn probe's science mission goals.